We created a dashboard to highlight travel trends in the United States this summer. This is a glimpse into the kinds of insights that travel marketers can find with Talkwalker’s social media intelligence platform. Through social listening, brands can optimize a travel marketing campaign by uncovering new insights into consumer behavior, demographic trends, and influencers. Here are some key points to keep in mind:
Who is Traveling?
Aside from standard market research around sales and travel trends, social listening should be included in every travel marketer’s toolbox. Social listening for audience research through a tool such as Talkwalker can uncover some interesting trends.
One might suspect that Viking Cruises, a PBS and Jeopardy advertising staple, would appeal almost exclusively to an older demographic and scarcely show up on social media. Some digging indicates otherwise. When comparing the age demographics of people talking about Viking Cruises to Carnival Cruise Line, it is interesting to find that both companies find the 25-34 age range as their key age group- Viking even more so than Carnival.
Go to Your Target Audience
As we demonstrate in our live US Summer Travel Dashboard, social listening allows you to reach an audience where they are, instead of making them come to you. Some simple hashtag research can let you know what your audience is talking about, and will provide a framework for targeted ad campaigns.
Visual Research Can Shape Campaigns
Marketers can use insights gleaned from visual objects associated with travel on social media to inform future campaigns. As pictured below, for example, we found that a makeup palette is a top image associated with travel. Why that is and what could be done around that image might be worth exploring.
Travel Campaigns That Work - Airbnb’s #LiveThere
Over a year since the launch of Airbnb’s Live There campaign, the company continues to reap the benefits. The hashtag that encouraged travelers to photograph their Airbnb rental continues to be utilized, essentially providing Airbnb free brand promotion as well as advertising for their rentals worldwide.
Live There continues to significantly outperform their subsequent campaign and motto, Belong Anywhere, reaching nearly 687 million people in the last week alone.
Airbnb can also use social listening to identify the demographics of consumers participating in their hashtag campaigns. For example, #livethere’s strong performance in India may indicate some untapped potential for Airbnb.
Want to learn more about how your brand is performing online? Talkwalker's analytics and data intelligence platform can provide valuable brand insights, campaign measurement, and market research. Request a demo today!
